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The Crimson Tide have a new quarterback, as former Washington Huskies signal-caller Austin Mack is following his former coach Kalen DeBoer to Alabama.
While the Tide already have their 2024 starter in place with Heisman candidate Jalen Milroe returning, it’s possible Mack could succeed him as starter. The Tide lost QB Julian Sayin to the transfer portal after former Tide coach Nick Saban announced his retirement. In addition to Sayin, Alabama has had eight other players transfer since the legendary coach stepped down.
Mack is the first former Huskies player to head to Tuscaloosa, but he very likely won’t be the last. He didn’t play in 2023, sitting the entire season as a redshirt freshman, so he still has four years of eligibility left.
Let’s take a closer look at what Bama will be getting in the 17-year-old quarterback.
A Bit of Background on New Alabama QB Austin Mack
At 6-foot-6 and 226 pounds, Mack is big, strong and full of potential. He’s also incredibly young, as he turns 18 in June of 2024.
The Loomis, California native attended high school in-state, playing three years at Folsom High. He graduated early after his junior season, electing to forego his senior year in order to attend college and redshirt at Washington.
His final season at Folsom, he went 269-of-382 for 3,498 yards, 40 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in 14 games, also netting a quarterback rating of 128.4.
“Austin Mack has been amazing this year,” DeBoer said about Mack after the 2023 season, via The Seattle Times. “He’s been everything and then some of what we had hoped for and expected. The guy’s going to play some big-time ball for us here in this program. He had just a great fall, got a lot of reps even in team sessions. Wasn’t just hanging out on the scout team. He was with us and you can just see what he’s capable of. Super excited about him.”
DeBoer said this prior to taking the new head coaching gig at Alabama, but it’s clear he has an enormous amount of faith in Mack’s abilities.
Former QB Brock Huard Had Glowing Things to Say About Alabama’s Newest QB
Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard spent three seasons playing in the pros and has served as a college football analyst since 2019. Huard had nothing but glowing things to say about Mack and his capacity for growth.
“He is gigantic. He is 6-6 plus, I think he’s over 240 pounds, and about size 17 feet,” Huard said about Mack in a January 19 appearance on The Next Round, also noting the young signal-caller was QB2 for much of the 2023 season.
“If something happens significantly to Michael Penix, a 17-year-old was going to be the quarterback for this undefeated team. That 17-year-old was Austin Mack,” Huard noted.
“It does not surprise me in this crazy world that Julian is in the transfer portal because he can read the room. … I know Alabama fans are freaking out because Julian is an immensely talented kid. I promise you when you see this guy (Mack) throw, when you see Austin Mack in person, when he walks into the room, his presence is enormous.”
“He is bright, he is smart,” Huard continued. “The Huskies staff loved him. … I was not surprised he ended up in Tuscaloosa. He is immensely gifted, they believe in him, and he has a massive, massive upside.”
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